Analysis of Physical Activity as an Environmental Risk Factor for Motor Neurone Disease (MND)

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

In motor neurone disease (MND), damage to the nervous system causes progressive limb weakness and difficulty with speech, swallowing and ultimately breathing. The cause of MND is unknown and there are no effective treatments. Sadly, patients with MND usually die within 3 years of symptom onset. Interest in physical activity (PA) as a risk factor for MND arose from suggestions that professional sports people may develop MND more often than is expected. Therefore, we plan to perform a study to investigate if MND patients are more likely to have undertaken high levels of PA in the past compared to healthy volunteers. We propose to interview patients and volunteers using a questionnaire we have designed which measures the PA performed throughout a person‘s adult life. We will analyse the data collected to determine if an association does exist. We hypothesise that PA is a risk factor for MND in only a proportion of genetically susceptible individuals and by determining this association we will gain insight into this abnormal biological response to PA. We hope the results will ultimately contribute to the development of new MND treatments by improving our understanding of the environmental and genetic interacting factors associated with this disease.